Microsoft sells its stake in Telewest
Seattle Times | at | by Mike
Microsoft has sold its stake in Telewest Communications for $5 million in cash, less than three years after buying the shares for $2.6 billion in stock. IDT, a telephone company that has been purchasing distressed rivals, bought the stake, Microsoft said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft, Telewest's No. 2 investor, owned 22 percent of the outstanding stock as of March.
Microsoft has written down about $7 billion of the value of its investments since 2001 and trimmed its cable holdings. The Redmond software maker purchased the Telewest shares in July 2000 as part of a bid to help sell software that runs on cable systems and television set-top boxes. Those programs found few customers.